Career
He was capped for Wales 21 times between 1964 and 1969 and was part of three Five Nations winning teams. Thomas played rugby as a school boy, and was selected to represent his country for the Welsh Secondary Schools side. During his time back in Wales, away from College, he represented his local team Neath, and faced the touring South African team of 1961 as part of a joint Aberavon / Neath side.
At the age of 22, he was selected for his first full international cap when he was chosen to represent Wales against England as part of the 1963 Five Nations Championship.
He toured twice with Wales, in 1964 to South Africa, playing in all four games, and in 1969 to Australasia and Fiji. While at Neath he captained them for two season between 1966 and 1968.
In 1981 Thomas became the team manager of Neath, and during that time he led them to five club titles, as Welsh Club Champions in 1986/87, 1988/89 and 1989/90, then as the winners of Welsh Premier Division in 1990/91 and 1995/96. In his 1989 book The Rugby Clubs of Wales, David Parry-Jones describes" Thomas as bringing a "fresh dimension to the tradition of tough, closely concentrated forward play" who was able to "attract and mould distant talent which might otherwise have found its way into other clubs".
He was the grandfather of Swansea second-row Jack Jones.